Genesis: the first concert in Switzerland in 1973

Published on 9/2/2016 by

Their hits like "I Can't Dance" have become classics. With more than 150 million albums sold, Genesis is one of the most commercially successful bands there has ever been. Its conquest of Switzerland was launched from the Palais de Beaulieu in Lausanne…

…where it gave its first live performance in our country in 1973 – and the price charged would appear ludicrous from today's perspective. Nineteen Swiss francs was the price of a ticket for the concert staged on 29 September 1973, which the posters had billed as "Super show de Genesis". The performance, which was one of the stops in the "Selling England by the Pound" tour, was the British rockers' first appearance in Switzerland. With their colourful apparel and an experimental stage show, the troupe around Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins had the audience in raptures. Despite that, their album did not really climb up the Swiss charts.

For many years now, life has become much quieter for the former rockers, and Genesis took a break in 2008. Since then, Phil Collins has been enjoying his leisure time not all that far away from Lausanne. The singer is so fond of being in Switzerland that he purchased a noble property on Lake Geneva. He is now spending his retirement there with his children. Doubtlessly, he occasionally thinks back to his first performance in the Palais de Beaulieu.

Not only Genesis, but numerous other stars have appeared on stage in the Palais de Beaulieu. The most famous of them include Jerry Lee Lewis (1966), Black Sabbath (1974), Status Quo (1981), Leonard Cohen (1985), Indochine (1986), Supertramp (1986), Elton John (1986), Joe Cocker (1992) and Laura Pausini (2002).